Cheap Trick
In Color

Produced by Steve Albini

Rick Nielson - vocals, guitars; Robin Zander - vocals, guitars; Bun E. Carlos - drums; Tom Petersson - vocals, bass

Back in 1997, Steve Albini produced a single for Cheap Trick ("Baby Talk" b/w "Brontosaurus"), released on Sub Pop that was easily the best thing Cheap Trick had recorded in almost 15 years. Apparently during the sessions ,the band re-recorded their second album IN COLOR, originally released in 1977.

Now, I happen to think that the first Cheap Trick album, CHEAP TRICK (1976) is one of the greatest albums in the history of rock music. It's a tight, hard, catchy, dark, cynical, hookladen album that is simply amazing. I've always been a bit disappointed with the followup release, IN COLOR, because it was a much less edgy very radio-friendly pop record; the first album is a tough act to follow. So when I heard a few months ago that there had been this re-visit to the album recorded but never released, I excitedly began prowling the internet for a copy. It was worth every second of effort.

These new versions are harder and rougher than the power pop of the original. Apparently these tracks are considered "unfinished" -- according to websites they are missing full vocal tracks and not all the songs from the album were completely tracked-- but even as it is it's a much better album than the official release. Worth seeking out - it's pretty easy to track down on the p2p networks.

Posted 19 July 2007.